Dump car door operating mechanism for several size door openings



Nov. 28, 1950 z MMER 2,531,960

A. E. l DUMP CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SEVERAL SIZE DOOR OPENINGS Filed Aug. 15, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 4/601 .Z/mmer A TTORNE Y.

1950 A. E. ZIMMER DUMP CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SEVERAL SIZE DOOR OPENINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 15, 1947 syg fd H A TTORNEYO Nov. 28, 1950 A. E. ZIMMER DUMP CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR SEVERAL SIZE noon OPENINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 15, 1947 INVENTOR. dZbe/ZZ Zmz mar BY Patented Nov. 28, 1950 DUMP CAR. DOOR OPE FOR SEVERAL SIZ Albert E. Zimmer, Chica RATING MECHANISM E DOOR OPENINGS go, 111., assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago,

Ill, a corporation of Illinois Application August 15, 1947, Serial No. 768,804

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to improvements in dump car (1001' operating mechanisms and the like and especially relates to that general type of a car having a bodily movable and rotatable shaft adapted to travel from a, position beyond the free edge of the door to a supporting position beneath the free edge thereof.

In cars of the identified type, it has been customary to provide a shaft mounted for movement in elongated slots, said shaft being connected to thedoor by a series of flexible connections adapted to wind around the shaft to raise the door, the shaft thereafter moving beneath the door by a combined sliding and rotary movement, serrated members being respectively provided on the shaft and door mainly for the' purpose of providing a tooth-like engagement whereby the shaft may be displaced outwardly from beneath the door by a partial rotation of the shaft during release of the door. In mechanisms of this type, it has been customary to attach the flexible connection on the underside of the door inwardly beyond the limit of movement of the shaft whereby, as the shaft comes into engagement with the door, a continued winding action of the flexible element on the shaft will cause the latter to travel inwardly beneath the free edge of the door and thereby exert a wedging action between the door and the lower face of the elongated slot in which the shaft travels, to force the door to a fully closed position by said wedging action. It is also customary to provide a series of such doors, generally four doors to a section of shaft, and two flexible connections per door, thereby making eight connections to a, shaft.

In many dump cars several of the doors are located above the car trucks and others are located between the car trucks; since the doors located above the car trucks can not open as far as those located between the car trucks it has been customary to provide rigid stops for each of the doors to limit its movement.

One of the objects of my invention is to eliminate the necessity for rigid car stops on the car body while still permitting each door to attain maximum opening. The elimination of rigid stops makes the car lighter in weight and cheaper in construction.

Another object of my invention is to provide for door openings of unequal amounts through the medium of permitting one winding chain mechanism to overrun the other mechanism through the interposition of a lost motion device on the door operating mechanism intended for the door with the lesser opening.

Other objects of my invention will become apparent from the study of the specification, drawings and claims.

In the drawings illustrating the selected embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of such a car showing the relative position of the discharge doors; and illustrating the necessity of providing for door opening of a different size over the truck side frame than is used in the open area between the trucks;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevation of the car illustrated in Fig. 1, showing the doors closed in full lines and open in broken lines, with the side construction of the car removed to show more clearly the relative location of various parts of the lost motion device;

Fig. 3 is a clinographic view of a portion of the winding sheave, showing the clutch lug of the lost motion device;

Fig. 4 is a clinographic View of the clutch collar used with this device; and

Figure 5 is a view in side elevation showing a portion of a railway car to which the present invention is applied.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is shown as applied to a drop bottom car in Figure 5. Cars of this type generally have a plurality of doors on each side of the center sill. The number of doors of the car may be varied as desired, the doors generally being operated from the end of the car in sets of several doors each.

The car illustrated is sill Ill, Figures 1 and frame I I stakes l3,

provided with a center 2, cross beams of the under cross beam top cover plates l2, side and car side bottom chord I4. The floor of the car, or such portion of it as is desired, is formed by floor doors one of which is indicated generally by the reference character A the latter being pivotally attached along its inner edge as noted at I5 to suitable hinge butts l6 which in turn are suitably secured to the center sill Id. The cross beam top cover plates l2 along each side edge of the door and the car side bottom chord M are each preferably extended to overlap the door A to provide an overhanging abutment for the side and front edges of the door when the door is in a closed position. As is well known in the art, there is generally one door between each pair of the cross members of the under frame on each side of the center sill. As illustrated, door A is located over the trucks or the car. A similar door, B, is located between the trucks, and is mounted in the same manner as door A.

The crossbeams ll of the underframe are apertured at their outer ends as at ll so as to accommodate a longitudinally extending operating shaft IS. The latter extends through the apertures of the crossmembers and through similarly elongated openings provided in bearing castings [9 which are riveted or otherwise secured to the crossbeams.

In the arrangement shown, each elongated bearing slot is formed with a substantially straight bearing portion and a curved depressed portion the latter being disposed in the outer end of the slot and beyond the free edge of the door.

Intermediate the crossbeams, the shaft is provided with a plurality of winding sheaves 28. Each said winding sheave is formed with spiral guideway 2| and includes at one end a serrated wheel 22 and at the opposite end a pair of outstanding integral brackets 23 each having a perforation 24. In alignment with each said serrated wheel 22 there is disposed on the door a bracket 25 having a curved nose 26 projecting slightly beyond the outer end of the door. Said bracket is formed on its underside with serrated surface 21 the latter being adapted to register with the serrated wheel 22 when the shaft is in contact with the door.

Connections are provided between the door and shaft respectively for the purpose of raising the door by a rotation of the shaft and thereafter bringing the shaft to a supporting position beneath the door. Said connections include a flexible section 28, such as a chain, attached to one end of the bracket 23 of the sheave 28 by means of pin and, at its opposite end, a bracket 30 carried on the underside of the door A. It will be understood that two flexible sections or chains 28 are connected to each door A.

The foregoing structure is well understood in the art and is described herein for the purpose of illustrating an environment for my invention. My invention adapts the foregoing structure to doors havin several diiferent degrees of opening. As illustrated, door A is located above the trucks which opens at a lesser degree than door B which is between the trucks. these two different degrees of opening by incorporating a lost motion device in the door operating mechanism for door A.

Flexible chains 28a (only one is shown) which are attached to the door B between the trucks are somewhat longer than the chains 28 which are attached to the door A over the car wheels. These chains 28 and 28a control the extent of opening of the doors A and B. In order to accommodate the differences in chain length for a given rotation of the shaft 58, lost motion mechanism is provided thereon for the door A and is associated with each of the winding wheels 22 which are attached to the shaft by rivets 3 i. The lost motion mechanism includes an axially extending lug 32, Fig. 3, on each of the winding sheaves 29 and they are mounted for free rotation on the shaft 18. Each lug 32 is located in the path of and coacts with a companion lug 33 that extends radially from a clutch collar 34 I provide for associated with each of the sheaves 20 and made fast on the shaft H! by a rivet 35.

It will be observed that the winding wheels 22 are located on the shaft i8 so as to engage the serrations 21 on the corresponding door brackets 25 when the chains 28 are wound on the sheaves 26 to close the door A. When this engagement takes place, the shaft H], on continued rotation thereof in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, is moved bodily in the elongated slots i! in the bearing castings l9 underneath the door A to hold the same closed. Since the shaft 13 extends along the other doors, such as the door B, it cooperates therewith in the same manner as described for door A.

Winding sheave 23a and its associated serrated wheel 22a are provided for opening the door B having the larger opening. The sheave 20a and the wheel 22a are constructed as a unit without the interposition of the lost motion device.

The operation of the lifting and supporting mechanism, first assuming the closed position of the car doors, is as follows: The operating shaft I8 is rotated, in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig, 1, in any convenient manner so as to force the movable shaft laterally outwardly from beneath the car door until the serrated wheels 22 and 22a. have cleared the serrated surfaces 2'l-on their mating door brackets 25. This allows the car doors to drop by gravity. As soon as the chain 28 has reached its extreme length it will bring the door A to a stop. Since the chains Zita are longer than the chains 26 and the winding sheaves 25a are fast on the shaft !8, the latter is required to rotate further than is necessary to unwind the chains 28. This further movement of the shaft I8 is permitted by separation of the lugs 33 on the collars 3 5, which are fast on the shaft Hi, from the lugs 32 on the sheaves 29, which are loose on the shaft l8.

In closing the car doors, the operating shaft I8 is rotated in the opposite direction for the initial portion of its movement; windin chain 28a will be wound upon winding sheave 20a and this will continue until such time that the lugs 33 on the clutch collars 34 engage the lugs 32 on the winding sheaves 28. Thereafter, upon continued operation of the shaft i3, the chain 28 and the 7 chain 2811 will both be wound upon their respective Winding sheaves 29 and 26a. until the doors A and B are both substantially horizontal; a continued rotation of the shaft l8, through the winding action of the flexible chains will cause the shaft to travel inwardly so as to engage the serrated wheels 22 and 22a with the serrated surfaces 21 upon the door brackets 25. A further rotation of the shaft i8 further engages the serrated wheels with the serrated surfaces of the respective door brackets to wedge the car doors into their closed position.

While I have shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the disclosed embodiment is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended to this specification.

I claim:

1. In a dump car including a, plurality of doors at least one of which is arranged for a lesser degree of opening than another of said doors and door operating mechanism for controlling the opening and closing of said doors having a rotatable operating shaft, and flexible chains connectin each of said doors to said operating shaft, the improvement which comprises lost motion means interposed between said operating shaft and each chain of the door arranged for the lesser degree of opening, said lost motion means including members fast on said shaft.

v qv

said members comprising a wheel and a collar spaced axially from said wheel, a winding sheave loose on said shaft between said members on which the corresponding chain is wound, and means for limiting the movement of said shaft relative to said sheave including a lug carried by said sheave and a cooperating lug carried by one of said members.

2. The invention, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the lug which cooperates with the lug on the sheave is carried by the collar.

3. In a dump car includin a plurality of doors at least one of which is arranged for a lesser degree of opening than another of said doors and door operating mechanism for controlling the opening and closing of said doors having a rotatable operating shaft, and flexible chains connecting each of said doors to said operating shaft, the improvement which comprises lost motion means interposed between said operating shaft and each chain of the door arranged for the lesser degree of opening, said lost motion means includin a collar fast on said shaft, a

winding sheave on which the corresponding" chain is wound loose on said shaft and juxtaposed to said collar, and cooperating lugs carried by said collar and winding sheave for limiting the movement of said shaft relative to said sheave.

ALBERT E. ZIMMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

